#(most of my plantagenet knowledge is henry ii and the soap opera of his immediate family)

[shadowsong26x]

So here's an alternate history thought...

I'm not sure I've ever come across this one before (and to be fair I don't know all the alternate history that's out there But).

This is about Edward II of England.

For those of you who don't know, he was some flavor of queer/MLM ((generally considered to be gay; I'm wary of putting specific labels on historical figures for a number of reasons, but that is I believe the general consensus as to his sexuality.))

He also had pretty awful taste in men.

Like, there were revolts against him over his favorites/boyfriends--not actually so much because they were dudes, but because he kept giving them properties and offices and so on. Also the Despensers in particular (probably only Hugh the Younger was his lover; but Hugh the Elder (his father) also got a lot of stuff) were just. Unpleasant Grasping Assholes.

Edward himself was also kind of an asshole.

Anyway, his first favorite was a man named Piers Gaveston. What records we have do seem to indicate that there was Genuine Affection between the two of them. But...well, the above problems applied; one of the most egregious examples was when Edward II married Isabella of France, it...like Gaveston's arms were everywhere; it basically read, according to contemporary accounts, more like a wedding feast for Edward and Piers than Edward and Isabella. Which, in addition to being a Bad Idea politically when celebrating a Political Treaty Marriage, is also just. Rude????

There's more, but that's the Relevant Background to this. Thing. that came into my brain.

And that is this:

What if Edward II did the Edward VIII thing--i.e., abdicated to be with Piers in a way he Could Not as king?

Edward had two half-brothers; the older was Thomas of Brotherton. What kind of king would Thomas I have been? What would all of this mean for the next two centuries of English (and French) history?

Does this alternate history novel already exist???

#history #history side of tumblr #alternate history #alternate history side of tumblr #edward ii #yes i'm aware i could write it myself #but i have other projects #including a different alternate history #where henry viii dies in that one jousting accident #(which is mostly focused on mary and elizabeth's relationship as elizabeth grows up after mary deposes her) #(vague plan to have it in an epistolary format starting form elizabeth's marriage) #(though also mary returning england to the catholic church is much more feasible at that point) #ANYWAY so yeah i'm curious if this already exists #or if anyone else wants to run with it who's done a little more in-depth reading on the period #(most of my plantagenet knowledge is henry ii and the soap opera of his immediate family) #and okay to be fair thomas's age at the time of their father's death makes this Unlikely #but Still